pom
27th Apr 2003, 03:20
Anyone who knew Peter will be saddened to hear that he died last week in a gliding accident. This is a report from the Exeter Express & Echo dated 22 April 2003.
A glider pilot who was killed after his aircraft crashed into a Devon farmyard has been named as Peter Palm.
Mr Palm, 48, of Dorchester, Dorset, died when his glider plummeted into Higher Ponchydown Farm, Blackborough, near Cullompton.
The glider crashed into a 12ft-high leylandii hedge - narrowly missing a large cattleshed - on Thursday afternoon.
Mr Palm, who was an experienced professional pilot, had taken off from the Devon and Somerset Gliding Club base at Broadhembury, near Honiton.
He had been towed in the single-seater Pegasus aircraft by a powered plane but crashed over farmland shortly after the glider was released.
Experts from the Ministry of Transport's air investigation branch are now examining the wreckage at their headquarters in Andover, Hampshire, to establish the cause of the accident.
After an initial police investigation, pilot error, illness or mechanical fault were cited as possible explanations for the crash.
Devon and Somerset Gliding Club members were said to be shocked and baffled by the accident because Mr Palm was an experienced pilot and the weather conditions had been good.
The funeral will take place on Monday 28th April. Peter will be sadly missed by everyone who knew him, and my sympathy goes out to his young family.
A glider pilot who was killed after his aircraft crashed into a Devon farmyard has been named as Peter Palm.
Mr Palm, 48, of Dorchester, Dorset, died when his glider plummeted into Higher Ponchydown Farm, Blackborough, near Cullompton.
The glider crashed into a 12ft-high leylandii hedge - narrowly missing a large cattleshed - on Thursday afternoon.
Mr Palm, who was an experienced professional pilot, had taken off from the Devon and Somerset Gliding Club base at Broadhembury, near Honiton.
He had been towed in the single-seater Pegasus aircraft by a powered plane but crashed over farmland shortly after the glider was released.
Experts from the Ministry of Transport's air investigation branch are now examining the wreckage at their headquarters in Andover, Hampshire, to establish the cause of the accident.
After an initial police investigation, pilot error, illness or mechanical fault were cited as possible explanations for the crash.
Devon and Somerset Gliding Club members were said to be shocked and baffled by the accident because Mr Palm was an experienced pilot and the weather conditions had been good.
The funeral will take place on Monday 28th April. Peter will be sadly missed by everyone who knew him, and my sympathy goes out to his young family.